A resourceful mother named Claire has shared her simple, money-saving recipes for packed lunches, focusing on homemade bread rolls and butter. These methods, detailed in her TikTok videos, emphasize natural ingredients and significant cost savings compared to supermarket alternatives.

Claire's recipe for golden brown bread rolls requires just three core ingredients: yeast, flour, and salt. To begin, she combines three cups of bread or plain flour with a sachet of easy yeast and a teaspoon of salt. This dry mix is then incorporated with 330ml of very warm water and thoroughly mixed. The dough is left in a bowl, covered with a towel, to rise for a couple of hours. Once risen, it's transferred to a flour-dusted worktop, kneaded into a large ball, and then divided into desired portions; Claire typically makes six rolls.

Photo Credit: BBC News

A clever technique to prevent the rolls from drying out involves placing a pot of water in the oven alongside the rolls on a baking tray. The rolls and water pot bake together for 10 minutes, after which the pot is removed, and the rolls continue to bake for an additional 10 minutes to achieve a crisp, golden brown finish. Claire highlights that these rolls 'taste amazing' and are made with 'all natural ingredients,' contrasting sharply with supermarket rolls that often contain numerous additives.

Beyond bread rolls, Claire also demonstrates how to make homemade butter, another significant cost-saver for packed lunches. Her method involves pouring two pots of double cream into a bowl and whisking it. While this took her about 30 minutes with a handheld electric whisk, she notes it would be considerably faster, around five to six minutes, using a food processor. The whisking continues until the cream turns yellow and begins to separate. After separation, the milk water is squeezed out, and the butter is then transferred to a bowl of ice-cold water for a second squeeze to remove any remaining liquid. Claire highly recommends this simple process, stating, 'You can save so much money by making your own butter,' and attests to its quality, having used it in her Sunday dinner mash.